President Donald Trump's claim that U.S. strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities amounted to "total obliteration" is being met with skepticism from some experts.
Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, and CNN political analyst Xochitl Hinojosa discussed Trump's claim on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Monday.
Hinojosa said it is impossible to know what Iran's nuclear capabilities are at this time, despite Trump's claims of success. Democrats on the Hill are also trying to ascertain the effectiveness of the U.S. operation through classified briefings.
Even so, there may be a simpler way of understanding the debacle.
" Trump often goes out and claims success, claims a victory, and the politics of this is that he knew that his party was on the brink of coming after him because they do not want to go to a war," Hinojosa said. "The polling showed that the American people believed that we should not be getting involved in this conflict. And so Trump was looking for an out."
"He needed to show that this was a success. He needed to show that this was a win," Hinojosa continued. "And, frankly, I think he succeeded in doing that."
The debate happened amid numerous outstanding questions about whether the U.S. operation in Iran was successful. Goldberg alluded to some of the remaining issues.
"All the caveats in the world apply," Goldberg said. "Will the ceasefire hold? Will some proxy like Hezbollah or somebody do something that Israel says, 'Wait a second...that blows up the ceasefire.' We don't know."
You can watch the debate here.
